1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is in the fields of molecular biology and cellular biology. The invention is directed generally to activation of gene expression or causing over-expression of a gene by recombination methods in situ. More specifically, the invention is directed to activation of endogenous genes by non-targeted integration of specialized activation vectors, which are provided by the invention, into the genome of a host cell. The invention also is directed to methods for the identification, activation, and isolation of genes that were heretofore undiscoverable, and to host cells and vectors comprising such isolated genes. The invention also is directed to isolated genes, gene products, nucleic acid molecules, and compositions comprising such genes, gene products and nucleic acid molecules, that may be used in a variety of therapeutic and diagnostic applications. Thus, by the present invention, endogenous genes, including those associated with human disease and development, may be identified, activated, and isolated without prior knowledge of the sequence, structure, function, or expression profile of the genes.
2. Related Art
Identification and over-expression of novel genes associated with human disease is an important step towards developing new therapeutic drugs. Current approaches to creating libraries of cells for protein over-expression are based on the production and cloning of cDNA. Thus, in order to identify a new gene using this approach, the gene must be expressed in the cells that were used to make the library. The gene also must be expressed at sufficient levels to be adequately represented in the library. This is problematic because many genes are expressed only in very low quantities, in a rare population of cells, or during short developmental periods.
Furthermore, because of the large size of some mRNAs, it is difficult or impossible to produce full length cDNA molecules capable of expressing the biologically active protein. Lack of full-length cDNA molecules has also been observed for small mRNAs and is thought to be related to sequences in the message that are difficult to produce by reverse transcription or that are unstable during propagation in bacteria. As a result, even the most complete cDNA libraries express only a fraction of the entire set of possible genes.
Finally, many cDNA libraries are produced in bacterial vectors. Use of these vectors to express biologically active mammalian proteins is severely limited since most mammalian proteins do not fold correctly and/or are improperly glycosylated in bacteria.
Therefore, a method for creating a more representative library for protein expression, capable of facilitating faithful expression of biologically active proteins, would be extremely valuable.
Current methods for over-expressing proteins involve cloning the gene of interest and placing it, in a construct, next to a suitable promoter/enhancer, polyadenylation signal, and splice site, and introducing the construct into an appropriate host cell.
An alternative approach involves the use of homologous recombination to activate gene expression by targeting a strong promoter or other regulatory sequence to a previously identified gene.
WO 90/14092 describes in situ modification of genes, in mammalian cells, encoding proteins of interest. This application describes single-stranded oligonucleotides for site-directed modification of genes encoding proteins of interest. A marker may also be included. However, the methods are limited to providing an oligonucleotide sequence substantially homologous to a target site. Thus, the method requires knowledge of the site required for activation by site-directed modification and homologous recombination. Novel genes are not discoverable by such methods.
WO 91/06667 describes methods for expressing a mammalian gene in situ. With this method, an amplifiable gene is introduced next to a target gene by homologous recombination. When the cell is then grown in the appropriate medium, both the amplifiable gene and the target gene are amplified and there is enhanced expression of the target gene. As above, methods of introducing the amplifiable gene are limited to homologous recombination, and are not useful for activating novel genes whose sequence (or existence) is unknown.
WO 91/01140 describes the inactivation of endogenous genes by modification of cells by homologous recombination. By these methods, homologous recombination is used to modify and inactivate genes and to produce cells which can serve as donors in gene therapy.
WO 92/20808 describes methods for modifying genomic target sites in situ. The modifications are described as being small, for example, changing single bases in DNA. The method relies upon genomic modification using homologous DNA for targeting.
WO 92/19255 describes a method for enhancing the expression of a target gene, achieved by homologous recombination in which a DNA sequence is integrated into the genome or large genomic fragment. This modified sequence can then be transferred to a secondary host for expression. An amplifiable gene can be integrated next to the target gene so that the target region can be amplified for enhanced expression. Homologous recombination is necessary to this targeted approach.
WO 93/09222 describes methods of making proteins by activating an endogenous gene encoding a desired product. A regulatory region is targeted by homologous recombination and replacing or disabling the region normally associated with the gene whose expression is desired. This disabling or replacement causes the gene to be expressed at levels higher than normal.
WO 94/12650 describes a method for activating expression of and amplifying an endogenous gene in situ in a cell, which gene is not expressed or is not expressed at desired levels in the cell. The cell is transfected with exogenous DNA sequences which repair, alter, delete, or replace a sequence present in the cell or which are regulatory sequences not normally functionally linked to the endogenous gene in the cell. In order to do this, DNA sequences homologous to genomic DNA sequences at a preselected site are used to target the endogenous gene. In addition, amplifiable DNA encoding a selectable marker can be included. By culturing the homologously recombinant cells under conditions that select for amplification, both the endogenous gene and the amplifiable marker are co-amplified and expression of the gene increased.
WO 95/31560 describes DNA constructs for homologous recombination. The constructs include a targeting sequence, a regulatory sequence, an exon, and an unpaired splice donor site. The targeting is achieved by homologous recombination of the construct with genomic sequences in the cell and allows the production of a protein in vitro or in vivo.
WO 96/29411 describes methods using an exogenous regulatory sequence, an exogenous exon, either coding or non-coding, and a splice donor site introduced into a preselected site in the genome by homologous recombination. In this application, the introduced DNA is positioned so that the transcripts under control of the exogenous regulatory region include both the exogenous exon and endogenous exons present in either the thrombopoietin, DNase I, or β-interferon genes, resulting in transcripts in which the exogenous and exogenous exons are operably linked. The novel transcription units are produced by homologous recombination.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,272,071 describes the transcriptional activation of transcriptionally silent genes in a cell by inserting a DNA regulatory element capable of promoting the expression of a gene normally expressed in that cell. The regulatory element is inserted so that it is operably linked to the normally silent gene. The insertion is accomplished by means of homologous recombination by creating a DNA construct with a segment of the normally silent gene (the target DNA) and the DNA regulatory element used to induce the desired transcription.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,578,461 discusses activating expression of mammalian target genes by homologous recombination. A DNA sequence is integrated into the genome or a large genomic fragment to enhance the expression of the target gene. The modified construct can then be transferred to a secondary host. An amplifiable gene can be integrated adjacent to the target gene so that the target region is amplified for enhanced expression.
Both of the above approaches (construction of an over-expressing construct by cloning or by homologous recombination in vivo) require the gene to be cloned and sequenced before it can be over-expressed. Furthermore, using homologous recombination, the genomic sequence and structure must also be known.
Unfortunately, many genes have not yet been identified and/or sequenced. Thus, a method for over-expressing a gene of interest, whether or not it has been previously cloned, and whether or not its sequence and structure are known, would be useful.